News

More names announced at Spectator Energy Forum

24 November 2014 | events

Greencoat Capital Managing Partner Richard Nourse, Joan MacNaughton, Executive Chair of the World Energy Trilemma for the World Energy Council, and Cheniere Energy Director James Ball are among a raft of new names set to speak at The Spectator Energy Conference, sponsored by Liberum, and taking place in the City of London on December 1.

Political leaders, investors, analysts and advisors involved in energy policy and business will meet to explore how to fix Britain’s energy market and understand what is happening to the geopolitics of energy. Those wishing to attend can go here to book >

Other speakers include Tom Howes, Deputy Head of Unit, Energy Policy and Monitoring, European Commission, Rt Hon David Lidington MP, Minister for Europe, Rhian Kelly, Director for Business Environment, CBI, David Clark, Chair, Russia Foundation and Stephen Tindale, Associate Fellow, Centre for European Reform.

The afternoon session sets the scene for the domestic energy debate in the UK ahead of the May 2015 general election and it will cover just how broken the energy market is here, what market reform would produce the best energy mix, supply options such as shale gas and nuclear power and the promise new technologies hold.

The morning session is devoted to the geopolitics of energy and will discuss European energy policy, supply flow threats and the US energy revolution.

What OPEC told Liberum clients about US shale oil and crude prices

15 May 2014 | Mentions of Liberum

US shale oil output will fall from 2018 and isn’t the balm to high global oil prices that some might hope for, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Abdalla Salem El-Badri, told clients of Liberum in a recent exclusive meeting in London.

Click on the image below to read a full report in OPEC’s Bulletin of this and other areas of discussion >>

“Tight oil is another source of supply and it can help relax the oil market a little. But it is not a revolution. There is a lot of exaggeration about tight oil’s potential,” he told an 80-strong audience of oil and gas investors, company executives, lawyers and investor relations executives.

“The danger about exaggerating this potential, especially in the US, is that other countries might then tend not to invest in future capacity expansion,” he said. The consequences could be a future supply shortage.

US output of shale oil - also known as tight oil - is expected to reach about 3.9 million barrels a day by 2018 if 5m b/d of natural gas liquids are included. “But from 2018, output will decline,” Mr El-Badri added, citing OPEC’s World Oil Outlook.

A vigorous question-and-answer session with Liberum’s guests and event host Adam Smallman, Liberum's Head of Content, saw the Secretary General say that both producers and consumers were comfortable with crude prices around $100-$110 a barrel. “We are not looking for the two extremes in oil prices,” he said after the world had experienced three years of price stability. “This is because the extreme of higher prices at the end of the day will affect demand. And if demand is affected, then our business will be affected.”

Extreme low prices, in turn, can encourage high consumption and deter investment, he added.

The Liberum Chemicals and Consumer Ingredients Growth Conference

07 April 2014 | Events

Liberum has assembled an eclectic mix of companies with strong market positions and growth potential for its second annual Chemicals and Consumer Ingredients Growth Conference which takes place in London on the afternoon of 12 June 2014. The event is for Liberum’s institutional clients.

Here are short profiles of the companies attending and details on who will represent them.

Croda PLC, CFO + Head of Coatings/Polymers. Croda is a producer of chemicals, primarily from natural ingredients, for use in cosmetics, healthcare, cropcare and industrial markets – markets with an above average blended growth rate through the cycle of around 4-5%. The business also has a fairly defensive track record due to a wide number of products, a wide number of customers, products that usually account for a low percentage of customer product cost and stable consumer end markets. Our guest speakers are well placed to comment on the M&A strategy and the potential for cyclical recovery in the Coatings/Polymers activities.

PureCircle PLC, CFO. PureCircle is the world's #1 in high purity stevia sweeteners for food and beverages with an 80%+ share. It has grown sales 10-fold to $100m since 2007 and should approach full current capacity ($250-300m sales) in the next 2-3 yrs. Stevia is the only natural, zero calorie sweetener viable for large scale production and growth is being driven by the focus to reduce sugar contents of food & drinks. PureCircle has supply agreements with all the major F&B companies (Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle etc).

Symrise AG, Head of IR. Symrise is the world’s fourth largest supplier of Flavour and Fragrance (F&F) Ingredients with a global share of 11% and is also niche cosmetic and healthcare ingredient supplier. Based in Holzminden, Germany the Group has been a public company since 2006, since which it has enjoyed a stable CAGR in sales and EBITDA of around 6%. The F&F sector is a very defensive and cash generative sector. Compared to its peers Symrise is particularly strong in vanilla, onion and menthol and leads the way in terms of its share of revenues from Emerging markets.

Air Liquide, Head of IR. Air Liquide has a leading c22% share of the €65bn Global Industrial Gases sector including oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and specialty gases. It is Global co-leader in Medical and Electronic gases and Europe’s leading supplier of hydrogen to oil refineries and number 3 in North America to the same. Historically it has the most defensive track record of the Big 4 industrial gas companies reflecting a bigger share of Revenues from Tonnage customers (on take and pay contracts) + Healthcare than any of its principal peers.

Alent PLC, CFO+Head of IR. Alentis a global supplier of specialty chemicals to the electronics, automotive and industrial sectors. The business was demerged from Cookson PLC in December 2012. Assembly Materials (Alpha) is a global supplier of solder and other interconnect materials principally used in phone and computer printed circuit boards and Surface Chemistries (Enthone) a global supplier of electroplating materials for the semiconductor, automotive and plumbing fittings sectors. The company is one of the most cash generative in the UK Specialty Chemicals Group yet trades at a 25% PE sector discount.

Velocys PLC, CEO+CFO. Velocys, previously called Oxford Catalysts,supplies catalysts and reactors for small/medium scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) plants. According to the company, the capital and operating costs of its systems are competitive thanks to the deployment of its compact microchannel FT reactors and super-active catalysts. The USA shale oil sector is a key target as many liquid rich fields have low cost ‘byproduct’ methane. The CEO is an eloquent advocate of his business and the economics of GTL.

Cormac Leech to speak on Alternative Finance at AltFi Summit Tuesday

07 March 2014 | Events

Liberum Banking Analyst Cormac Leech will detail the changing face of Alternative Finance and its growth trajectory at the AltFi Summit 2014 on Tuesday in London, the first European focused event to examine P2P Lending, Crowdfunding and invoice funding.

AltFi Summit 2014 is co-sponsored by Liberum and is set to attract up to 250 professional investors, including wealth managers, hedge funds, family offices, venture capitalists, alongside consultants and key industry players.

Among the speakers are Vince Cable, Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills, Simon Champ, CEO of P2PCS, Rhydian Lewis, CEO and Founder of RateSetter, Ed Wray, Co-Founder of Betfair, Giles Andrews, CEO and Co-Founder of Zopa, Anthony Thomson, Founder and Former Chairman of Metro Bank and Samir Desai, Co-Founder and Director at Funding Circle.

UK Alternative Finance breaks $1bn barrier - Liberum AltFi Index

14 January 2014 | Events

The UK Alternative Finance sector, which includes peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding and invoice funding, has broken the £1 billion barrier for the first time in December 2013, according to Liberum AltFi Index data.

This data is the first in a series to be produced by Liberum AltFi Index, a collaboration between Liberum and AltFinance News, the leading media site for the UK P2P sector. It is intended to establish a range of Liberum AltFi Index data on the UK Alternative Finance sector.

"This exponential growth of UK P2P volumes, albeit at a still modest level of £1bn, demonstrates that the internet-driven disintermediation of traditional banks is well underway”, said Liberum Analyst Cormac Leech, who cover Banks and Other Financials

“In the near term, UK P2P volumes will accelerate due to FCA regulation from April, likely ISA-ability in 2014, along with the arrival of a wall of yield-starved institutional capital. Banking is essentially about information and legal contracts making it as digitisable as music. Banks need to rapidly re-invent themselves to stay relevant over the next decade," he added.

An article on AlfFinance News regarding the exclusive research from the Liberum AltFi Index and comments from industry players can be found here >>.

Liberum is also a sponsor of the AltFi 2014 Summit, being held March 11. It is the first European focused event for the emerging Alternative Finance space, including P2P lending, crowdfunding and invoice funding.

Small & Mid Cap 2014 Outlook breakfast Jan 17

13 January 2014 | Events

The small and mid cap sector has outperformed all other global assets classes over one- and five-year periods, excluding Japan. But not all companies enjoyed the ride and that momentum has eased at the close of 2013.

Joe Brent, Liberum's well-regarded Head of Equity Research, is the UK expert in this sector and is to host a breakfast for professional investors on whether a shift from value to growth is underway.

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